Blaze’s patrols in the Nexus have become less frequent, but the need to keep the place monitored and safe hasn’t diminished just because she wants to distract herself. So she still arrives, on a schedule dictated by strategy and calculated variations. All the better to be unpredictable.

Still, there are certain people they’re not out to surprise, and by the time her boots hit the paved Nexus streets this time, Ghost has already sent a text message well ahead of them:

Hello Adia! If you’re free to come along, we’ll be on patrol in the Nexus three hours from now. Hopefully the temporal variations won’t throw that estimate off by too much. If you can make it then we’ll arrange a rendezvous. -Ghost

They land in a clearing on the city outskirts with grass under their boots and a heavy overcast above. The breeze that greets them is hot and humid, a little acidic. Around them is a densely-grown treeline, with broad leaves that are near-luminescent shades of green. Their rustle is echoed by the distant wash of waves from beyond the ruins.

Blaze turns to scan the area, hopeful of opposition even though her Ghost already checked the site. The broken towers and city blocks are quiet within the overgrowth. But then it’s not the human ruins which really stand out. To the north a massive volcano takes up much of the sky, belching out a noxious plume of ash and gas. Small wonder that each shift in the breeze makes the scent of the air waver between sulfurous and salty. Over the hills to both south and east loom dark geometric structures. Look at them with anything other than the optical spectrum, and they emit some very peculiar readings.

“At last,” the Exo remarks, feeling a thrill that doesn’t break her readiness. Her head’s turned up to check the skyline as she speaks. Then she's moving for the buildings. “We’re in Guardian territory, more or less. Doesn’t stretch too far yet. Won’t take long to find some trouble.”